Sugru's R&D department blew off a little steam by making a Sugru-reinforced gatling water-pistol that fires multicolored streams of dyed water.

The project was conceived of at Makerversity, a London hackerspace, and features some pretty fabulous improvisation, including a small motor salvaged from a junked black cab's windscreen wiper. The seams and seals are reinforced with noodles of Sugru, a near-miraculous polymer clay that air-dries to a semi-permanent, dishwasher-safe, food-safe state. I got this story literally minutes after effecting my second Sugru-based repair of the day (I used it to add rubber non-skid feet to my new adjustable keyboard tray).

http://boingboing.net/2014/06/30/how-to-make-a-sugru-sealed-rai.html/feed0HOWTO: Post-bureaucratic flotsam kayakhttp://boingboing.net/2014/05/22/howto-post-bureaucratic-flots.html
http://boingboing.net/2014/05/22/howto-post-bureaucratic-flots.html#commentsThu, 22 May 2014 16:00:03 +0000http://boingboing.net/?p=304819
Johntonta grew weary of the meaningless modern round of office slavery, so he created a kayak made from desk-lumber, a business-suit skin, computer-wire lashings.]]>
Johntonta grew weary of the meaningless modern round of office slavery, so he created a kayak made from desk-lumber, a business-suit skin, computer-wire lashings. He documented the Post-bureaucratic jetsam kayak on Instructables so you too can sail away on the careless seas.

Cut the desktop into strips. The size of the desktop will determine the length of the kayak. You will need five or more lengths of wood. I was able to cut fifteen batons from my desktop and subsequently joined the batons into lengths of three giving a total of five bits of wood a bit over 15 foot in length.

one (sturdiest) length is for the keel. Two for gunwhales which edge the deck of the craft. at least two are for the 'stringers' that make up the rest of the hull line

http://boingboing.net/2014/05/22/howto-post-bureaucratic-flots.html/feed0HOWTO make your own head-in-a-jar illusionhttp://boingboing.net/2014/03/28/howto-make-your-own-head-in-a.html
http://boingboing.net/2014/03/28/howto-make-your-own-head-in-a.html#commentsFri, 28 Mar 2014 19:00:19 +0000http://boingboing.net/?p=294785
By photoshopping a pair of mirror-flipped profile-shots of your face onto either side of a full-on shot, you can make a gimmicked photo that, when curled and placed in a jar of water, creates a convincing illusion of your head in a jar.]]>
By photoshopping a pair of mirror-flipped profile-shots of your face onto either side of a full-on shot, you can make a gimmicked photo that, when curled and placed in a jar of water, creates a convincing illusion of your head in a jar. Mikeasaurus's Instructable has easy-to-follow instructions for making your own.

You'll need a jar large enough to hold your picture. I got this 5 litre glass jar at my local hardware store for $15.

Filling the jar about halfway with water, I used a mix of yellow, orange, and green liquid food dye I tinted the water to resemble a preserving solution. Just like in the vintage science fiction movies.

Curling the laminated printout to fit through the jar neck the sheet was inserted, the jar was then topped off with water until full. The jar was then sealed. The head in a jar was now ready to be placed inside the fridge to prank hungry foragers.

Since the solution reminded me of brine solution I decided to add a few hard boiled eggs to my head jar for fun.

http://boingboing.net/2014/03/28/howto-make-your-own-head-in-a.html/feed0HOWTO build a nixie clock from near-scratchhttp://boingboing.net/2014/01/08/howto-build-a-nixie-clock-from.html
http://boingboing.net/2014/01/08/howto-build-a-nixie-clock-from.html#commentsWed, 08 Jan 2014 21:00:54 +0000http://boingboing.net/?p=278778
Jeffrey sez, "The renowned 360 photographer Andrea Biffi has posted complete instructions for building your own Nixie Tube clock, even including how to etch your own circuit board.]]>
Jeffrey sez, "The renowned 360 photographer Andrea Biffi has posted complete instructions for building your own Nixie Tube clock, even including how to etch your own circuit board.
While the process seems to be slightly more difficult that 'total noob' difficulty (also, with nixie tubes, hazardous voltages are involved, so be careful!), it looks like loads of fun, with an absolutely beautiful end product."

http://boingboing.net/2014/01/08/howto-build-a-nixie-clock-from.html/feed0HOWTO make a $10 digital microscope kit for your phonehttp://boingboing.net/2013/10/22/howto-make-a-10-digital-micro.html
http://boingboing.net/2013/10/22/howto-make-a-10-digital-micro.html#commentsTue, 22 Oct 2013 23:04:14 +0000http://boingboing.net/?p=263432
On Instructables, Yoshinok explains a clever, simple method for building a digital microscope stand that uses your phonecam, focused by a laser-pointer lens.]]>
On Instructables, Yoshinok explains a clever, simple method for building a digital microscope stand that uses your phonecam, focused by a laser-pointer lens.

This instructable will show you how to build a stand for about $10 that will transform your smartphone into a powerful digital microscope. This DIY conversion stand is more than capable of functioning in an actual laboratory setting. With magnification levels as high as 175x, plant cells and their nuclei are easily observed! In addition to allowing the observation of cells, this setup also produces stunning macro photography.

http://boingboing.net/2013/10/22/howto-make-a-10-digital-micro.html/feed03D printed open SLR camerahttp://boingboing.net/2013/07/09/3d-printed-open-dlsr.html
http://boingboing.net/2013/07/09/3d-printed-open-dlsr.html#commentsTue, 09 Jul 2013 18:00:45 +0000http://boingboing.net/?p=241381
Bozardeux, a recent French graduate and Instructables user, has undertaken a project to make an open, 3D printed DSLR camera. All the parts and designs are licensed CC Attibution-ShareAlike.]]>
Bozardeux, a recent French graduate and Instructables user, has undertaken a project to make an open, 3D printed DSLR camera. All the parts and designs are licensed CC Attibution-ShareAlike.

The OpenReflex is an Open-Source analog camera with a mirror Viewfinder and an awesome finger activated mechanic shutter (running ~ 1/60°s). What's more, it's compatible with any photographic lens with custom mount ring.

All the pieces easily printable on any recent RepRap-like ABS 3D-printer without using support material ! Everything should print in less than 15h and anyone should be able to assemble it within 1h.

All parts are separate ( Film receiver, Shutter and Viewfinder ) to simplify builds and modifications.
The source files are available under the CreativeCommon By-Sa license, fell free to modify them if you want a new feature, and don't forget to share your improvements on the web ;)

Here's a great Instructables for hiding a stash-box behind a wall of cut-away books. In some ways, it's a lot less fiddly than creating a single hollow book, though it does require you to use a scroll saw.

]]>

Here's a great Instructables for hiding a stash-box behind a wall of cut-away books. In some ways, it's a lot less fiddly than creating a single hollow book, though it does require you to use a scroll saw.

1. The height and depth of the books are the important dimensions of the book. The size of the cover is what limits storage space. Since you are using multiple books, the thickness of each one doesn't matter.

2. The books do not need to be the same size, but it is convenient if they are. Sets of reference books like encyclopedias work well because they are all the same and it is a reasonable excuse to have a bunch of large books all in one spot on the book shelf.

3. Hardback books hold their shape better than paperbacks do after being cut up.

4. The secret compartment only remains a secret as long as no one tries to read any of the books. So it helps if the book are relatively uninteresting while still looking like something that you would have on your shelf.

http://boingboing.net/2013/05/30/howto-make-a-multi-book-secret.html/feed36HOWTO make a magnetic detachable stapler for center-stapled booklets and the likehttp://boingboing.net/2013/04/27/howto-make-a-magnetic-detachab.html
http://boingboing.net/2013/04/27/howto-make-a-magnetic-detachab.html#commentsSat, 27 Apr 2013 19:14:40 +0000http://boingboing.net/?p=227018
On Instructables, DIYHacksAndHowTos has a great method for separating a cheap stapler and sticking magnets on both halves, enabling you to center-staple booklets and the like.]]>
On Instructables, DIYHacksAndHowTos has a great method for separating a cheap stapler and sticking magnets on both halves, enabling you to center-staple booklets and the like. Every year or two, I do something zine-like that requires this sort of thing, and I always end up wasting money on a long-reach stapler that's always lost by the time the next project rolls around. (Don't get me wrong, long-reach staplers are awesome, but if you only need to do booklets once every year or two, they're a lot of investment). This is what I'll do next time (and as a bonus, it'll be great for kid craft projects where we want to use a staple in th center of a large sheet of paper).

One limitation of a typical office stapler is that it only lets you staple about 3 1/2" into the paper. This isn't enough for a lot of projects. If you want to put together your own comic book or a large banner, you are usually stuck stapling your project onto a piece of cardboard or carpet and then bending the legs of the staple by hand. They do sell extra long staplers or staplers with swivel heads but they still have their limitations.

A better option would be to make a stapler with a detachable base. The base would be positioned under the paper and aligned to the top half of the stapler with magnets. This would allow you to staple any area of a project regardless of location. So in this project, I am going to show you how to convert a standard stapler into a two part magnetic stapler.

http://boingboing.net/2013/04/27/howto-make-a-magnetic-detachab.html/feed14Instructables based on Little Brother and Homelandhttp://boingboing.net/2013/02/09/instructables-based-on-little.html
http://boingboing.net/2013/02/09/instructables-based-on-little.html#commentsSat, 09 Feb 2013 22:41:22 +0000http://boingboing.net/?p=212004
The awesome people at Instructables have launched a series of HOWTOs based on my novel Homeland, written from the point of view of Marcus, the novel's hero.]]>
The awesome people at Instructables have launched a series of HOWTOs based on my novel Homeland, written from the point of view of Marcus, the novel's hero. They previously posted 11 of these for Little Brother, and the new Homeland ones should be kicking off any day. Watch this space!

http://boingboing.net/2013/02/09/instructables-based-on-little.html/feed5HOWTO make a set of junk-bagpipeshttp://boingboing.net/2013/01/30/howto-make-a-set-of-junk-bagpi.html
http://boingboing.net/2013/01/30/howto-make-a-set-of-junk-bagpi.html#commentsWed, 30 Jan 2013 19:22:40 +0000http://boingboing.net/?p=209557

Instructables user smartin014 wants to show you how to make your own set of bagpipes out of PVC pipes and a plastic bag. It's Fat Albert chic:

Having played the highland bagpipes for a couple years now and having just finished a course on maintenance, I was greatly interested in building my own set of pipes just for fun. A few days later, a duct-tape and CPVC bagpipe emerged!

Assembly (from having taken out the parts to having a playable instrument) takes roughly 4-5 hours.

Here's a video of a seasoned piper giving the membrane pipes a spin!
(Just a side note... the drones were HORRENDOUSLY out of tune in this video. They can sound better, really!)

http://boingboing.net/2013/01/30/howto-make-a-set-of-junk-bagpi.html/feed22HOWTO make a DIY bioprinter out of an old inkjethttp://boingboing.net/2013/01/24/howto-make-a-diy-bioprinter-ou.html
http://boingboing.net/2013/01/24/howto-make-a-diy-bioprinter-ou.html#commentsThu, 24 Jan 2013 21:55:40 +0000http://boingboing.net/?p=207955

Karen from Instructables sez, "Instructables author Patrik has rigged up a homemade bioprinter, a 3D printer that 'prints' in biological material. Check out his amazing project. This is one of the many creative entries we've seen come in for our SciStarter Citizen Science Contest, where we are challenging our users to create solutions for real scientific problems."

As our first real "bioprinting" experiment, we wanted to start with something simple, instead of jumping straight into printing with live cells. We decided to print with a solution of arabinose onto filter paper. Then we cut out the filter paper, and put it onto an agarose plate on which we had grown a lawn of E. coli that we had engineered to carry the pGLO plasmid. This plasmid carries the Green Fluorescent Protein (GFP), under control of an arabinose-sensitive promoter. (Stay tuned for an instructable on how to make your own GFP-expressing E. coli).

As a result, wherever we had printed arabinose on the filter paper, we now saw the E. coli light up green under UV light! Note that the beauty of this experiment lies in its simplicity: we only had to print with a simple sugar solution, rather than with bulky live cells; and we were printing on paper, so we didn't even have to change the paper handling machinery. You could also try printing with antibiotics, or even proteins, such as enzymes or growth factors.

The second-to-last image above shows our first test print, where we has printed arabinose over half of the filter paper - and half of the plate lights up under UV light. In the second image, we had printed the BioCurious "eyeball" logo. Success! Unfortunately the sharpness of the image definitely leaves much to be desired. Presumably, the arabinose tends to diffuse through the filter paper, which smears out the printed pattern. We should be able to do much better by printing directly on the agarose.

http://boingboing.net/2013/01/24/howto-make-a-diy-bioprinter-ou.html/feed5Electric candle that runs on the heat from a real candlehttp://boingboing.net/2012/11/28/electric-candle-that-runs-on-t.html
http://boingboing.net/2012/11/28/electric-candle-that-runs-on-t.html#commentsWed, 28 Nov 2012 19:23:05 +0000http://boingboing.net/?p=196828
Instructables user Randofo has created a tutorial for his ingeniously perverse candle-powered electric candle. As the name implies, it's an electric candle whose power comes from the heat given off by a real candle.]]>
Instructables user Randofo has created a tutorial for his ingeniously perverse candle-powered electric candle. As the name implies, it's an electric candle whose power comes from the heat given off by a real candle.

I have been thinking a lot lately about being more prepared, and what supplies we should have on hand for when the 'big one' hits. After prioritizing the three most obvious things to have in a severe emergency - water, food, and a fair-sized crowbar - it came down to figuring out what else one needs to survive. It did not take me very long to conclude this item was electric lighting. I use that all the time. How can I live without that?

After assessing the problem, it became apparent to me that after a few days of constant lighting, all of my batteries will be dead. This means that either I need rechargeable batteries, or a way to generate electricity without them. Not needing batteries to begin with seemed most sensible to me. I explored different options and finally figured out a low-cost, long-term, and portable, method to keep my electric candles lit. I am going to use heat generated by tea lights. The nice thing about this solution is that they are dirt cheap, small, and will last forever. You can buy about 1,000,000 tea lights at Ikea for $1.99. With a fair-sized stock of small candles, I can keep my electric candle lit indefinitely. Thanks to my candle-powered electric candle, I know that I will never be left in the dark.

http://boingboing.net/2012/11/28/electric-candle-that-runs-on-t.html/feed24Candy Corn on the cobhttp://boingboing.net/2012/10/18/candy-corn-on-the-cob.html
http://boingboing.net/2012/10/18/candy-corn-on-the-cob.html#commentsThu, 18 Oct 2012 16:44:45 +0000http://boingboing.net/?p=188269
An Instructable exists for this. It must be made. Alaskantomboy writes, in the prelude:

I experimented with fondant first, that was completely unsuccessful. Then I though of gluing it together with caramel (since I had a fresh bag of that around too). Too messy and too hard.
Then, another light bulb went off.....cookie dough! Sugar cookie dough works perfectly (don't attempt with chocolate chip dough, the chips just get in the way and jeopardize structural integrity). It only took about 4 minutes to assemble and looked authentic.

http://boingboing.net/2012/10/18/candy-corn-on-the-cob.html/feed35HOWTO make a machete wrenchhttp://boingboing.net/2012/09/22/howto-make-a-machete-wrench.html
http://boingboing.net/2012/09/22/howto-make-a-machete-wrench.html#commentsSun, 23 Sep 2012 02:31:45 +0000http://boingboing.net/?p=182652
EV Builder and friends were in the midst of refitting a vehicle to be of use in a zombie apocalypse when it occurred to them to turn a machete into a variable hex wrench.]]>
EV Builder and friends were in the midst of refitting a vehicle to be of use in a zombie apocalypse when it occurred to them to turn a machete into a variable hex wrench. They liked the result so much that the published the HOWTO on Instructables.

Perhaps one of the more useful tools I have ever owned was a flat bar with a series of hexagonal cutouts in it. While minimally useful as a wrench because of its long length, it proved invaluable as backstop for holding nuts in place while I was tightening them down. Not to mention that when my wrench set was annoyingly missing just the size I needed, my hard to misplace flat bar always had me covered.

It therefore stood to reason that a Katana with a similar series of hexagonal cutouts would be valuable both for taking down Zombies/Mutant wildlife and complementing any set of tools used for post apocalyptic DYI projects. However, after a bit of research it became apparent that in addition to being expensive to make, “Katanas are notoriously high maintenance”* and at ApocalypsEV we hate the idea of high cost high maintenance (www.ApocalypsEV.com).

So seeking a simpler more affordable concept, we created the Mechanics Machete. It combines the Zombie fighting power of a machete with the utility of a set of wrenches. Also when using stainless steel for the blade, it eliminates the maintenance hassle of trying to keep the blade rust free.

http://boingboing.net/2012/09/22/howto-make-a-machete-wrench.html/feed23LN2-frozen cocktail popsicles -- the cocksicle!http://boingboing.net/2012/06/20/ln2-frozen-cocktail-popsicles.html
http://boingboing.net/2012/06/20/ln2-frozen-cocktail-popsicles.html#commentsThu, 21 Jun 2012 00:18:24 +0000http://boingboing.net/?p=167064
Karen sez, "Instructables user kazmataz has figured out how to freeze alcohol using liquid nitrogen, and made her own cocktail popsicles."

CAREFULLY pour your liquid nitrogen into the container, making sure to not hit the top of your pops.

]]>
Karen sez, "Instructables user kazmataz has figured out how to freeze alcohol using liquid nitrogen, and made her own cocktail popsicles."

CAREFULLY pour your liquid nitrogen into the container, making sure to not hit the top of your pops. You want enough LN2 to go about halfway up your pop molds.

While that's continuing to bubble away, pour some more LN2 into your smaller container. Delicately pour a little bit on top of your popsicles. It will all evaporate away, so don't worry about consuming any - this is just to ensure things freeze evenly from all sides.

Let the whole thing sit for a few minutes, or until the popsicle sticks seem firmly in place.

**pro-tip: besides just sitting there, and watching the popsicles slowly freeze (booooooring), feel free to carefully move the container around, to keep the liquid nitrogen moving. It speeds up the freezing process a little.

http://boingboing.net/2012/06/20/ln2-frozen-cocktail-popsicles.html/feed37HOWTO make Star Wars vehicles from 3.5" floppieshttp://boingboing.net/2012/05/22/howto-make-star-wars-vehicles.html
http://boingboing.net/2012/05/22/howto-make-star-wars-vehicles.html#commentsWed, 23 May 2012 00:00:15 +0000http://boingboing.net/?p=162278
Instructables user Jetpack5 created a series of Star Wars space vehicles out of floppy-disk parts and office supplies. There's even a rubber-band-ball Death Star!]]>
Instructables user Jetpack5 created a series of Star Wars space vehicles out of floppy-disk parts and office supplies. There's even a rubber-band-ball Death Star! Also in the set: a Millennium Falcon and a truly spiffy X-Wing fighter. This is a potentially productive way of using up the 5-billion-odd 3.5" floppies kicking around, slowly decaying. Better than my idea of a massive Beowulf cluster of 486s with four floppy drives each, rack-mounted and spanned to create a massively inefficient, room-sized virtual ZIP cartridge, which would be serviced by a dozen rollerbladed teenagers who would whisk around, swapping out corrupt disks.

http://boingboing.net/2012/05/22/howto-make-star-wars-vehicles.html/feed2HOWTO make a disco-ball helmethttp://boingboing.net/2012/04/03/howto-make-a-disco-ball-helmet.html
http://boingboing.net/2012/04/03/howto-make-a-disco-ball-helmet.html#commentsTue, 03 Apr 2012 14:30:42 +0000http://boingboing.net/?p=152647 On Instructables, Natalina explains how she turned her motorcycle helmet into a disco ball: "This disco ball helmet uses real glass, as it is intended as a costume piece (to be paired with a disco backpack, coming soon!).]]> On Instructables, Natalina explains how she turned her motorcycle helmet into a disco ball: "This disco ball helmet uses real glass, as it is intended as a costume piece (to be paired with a disco backpack, coming soon!). If you want it to be functional, acrylic mirror would be safer and lighter weight (though not as shiny and reflective)."

http://boingboing.net/2012/03/23/prolific-instructables-maker-c.html/feed2HOWTO turn a loved one's head into a laser-cut 3D model with a secret compartmenthttp://boingboing.net/2012/03/23/howto-turn-a-loved-ones-head.html
http://boingboing.net/2012/03/23/howto-turn-a-loved-ones-head.html#commentsFri, 23 Mar 2012 13:00:59 +0000http://boingboing.net/?p=150957 CarlBass on Instructables (who's also the CEO of Autodesk) created a 3D modelled, laser-cut version of his son's head, designed to have a secret compartment instead of brains.]]> CarlBass on Instructables (who's also the CEO of Autodesk) created a 3D modelled, laser-cut version of his son's head, designed to have a secret compartment instead of brains.

We made a box in the shape of my son’s head. We laser cut pieces of taskboard (corrugated cardboard works well, too) and laminated them together. The heads pivots on a dowel and is held in place by two magnets... Round magnets have been added on the top and bottom of the head so it snaps close and conceals the secret hiding spot.

http://boingboing.net/2012/03/23/howto-turn-a-loved-ones-head.html/feed26HOWTO make a molded portrait-gourdhttp://boingboing.net/2012/03/16/howto-make-a-molded-portrait-g.html
http://boingboing.net/2012/03/16/howto-make-a-molded-portrait-g.html#commentsFri, 16 Mar 2012 16:39:36 +0000http://boingboing.net/?p=149685
Instructables member TimAnderson has a great HOWTO for growing molded "portait gourds," a technique from China and would work with other vegetables.]]>
Instructables member TimAnderson has a great HOWTO for growing molded "portait gourds," a technique from China and would work with other vegetables. He starts with a 3D sculpture of his subject, creates a mold, and then coaxes the veg to grow within the mold's constraints.

This mold has a flexible rubber lining which makes it easy to remove from the gourd.
A plaster mold adheres to the gourd more tenaciously and usually the mold is destroyed in the course of removing it from around the gourd.

The gourd is then allowed to dry slowly, and the outer coating called the "cuticle" is removed.
Then the finishing steps, if any, are done.

On this gourd, the details of the face and hair were then traced with the point of a jade knife to enhance the detail, It was dyed with dark tea, and a coat of varnish was applied to make it shiny.

I saw the demo video for the neurowear "necomimi" brain controlled cat ears and I thought they were pretty awesome. I'm just starting to learn electronics and I thought a fun project to start out would be making my own version. Sadly, I don't think I'm adept enough yet to take on making my own EEG and I don't think the EEG's that are available are very reasonably priced, so I settled for having a button input to control the cat ears.

I wanted to build something that wasn't too expensive and was easy enough to be done in a sitting or two. I picked out some cheap servo motors, some craft supplies, spent a weekend or two developing code to control the servo's from a microcontroller and after much trial and error, I built some kitty ears that I think are pretty decent.

http://boingboing.net/2012/02/21/howto-make-animatronic-cat-ear.html/feed42HOWTO make a stained-glass D20http://boingboing.net/2012/02/20/howto-make-a-stained-glass-d20.html
http://boingboing.net/2012/02/20/howto-make-a-stained-glass-d20.html#commentsMon, 20 Feb 2012 18:03:11 +0000http://boingboing.net/?p=144720
On Instructables, CaseyBorders's recipe for making stained glass 20-sided dice. A bit tricky to carry these around in your grandad's old Crown Royal bag, but otherwise, they make some pretty smashing (ahem) RPG accessories.]]>
On Instructables, CaseyBorders's recipe for making stained glass 20-sided dice. A bit tricky to carry these around in your grandad's old Crown Royal bag, but otherwise, they make some pretty smashing (ahem) RPG accessories.

Now we need to cut 20 triangles out of our sheet of stained glass that match the template that we created. The easiest way to do that is to cut a stip of glass the same height as the triangles we cut in the jig. In the example pictures we used a strip that was 1.5" wide because our triangles ended up being 1.5" tall. Place the strip flush across the bottom of your cutting board and set your angle guide to 60 degrees. Follow your angle guide with your scorer so you end up with a 60 degree angle cut off the end of your glass strip. Depending on the kind of glass you bought you might simply need to flip it over to get the other side of the triangle, but the glass in the demo pictures is textured on the back, so we can only cut on the front, so we need to change our cutting guide to 60 degrees the other way. However you end up doing it, make sure that you are making your cuts and angle adjustments as precisely as you can, because if the triangles are not correctly shaped they will not make a good-looking d20.

Once you have 20 good pieces we can etch the numbers on them. Place each triangle in one of the holes of the cardboard template on the laser cutter's cutting surface. Now you can use the same file that we used to make the template but be sure to set your laser to etch only! We don't want to cut around the holes again!

http://boingboing.net/2012/02/08/howto-make-duct-tape-roses.html/feed4Cheap Ikea anglepoise knock-off is a good articulated arm for webcamshttp://boingboing.net/2012/01/09/cheap-ikea-anglepoise-knock-of.html
http://boingboing.net/2012/01/09/cheap-ikea-anglepoise-knock-of.html#commentsMon, 09 Jan 2012 16:39:56 +0000http://boingboing.net/?p=137827
Ikea makes a super-cheap, $9 articulated anglepoise knock-off lamp. The articulated arm is a useful for anything lightweight that needs to have an adjustable X- and Y-axis.]]>
Ikea makes a super-cheap, $9 articulated anglepoise knock-off lamp. The articulated arm is a useful for anything lightweight that needs to have an adjustable X- and Y-axis. Instructables user Brianandrewparker shows how to use a blob of Sugru to mount a webcam to the lamp-base and give yourself a nice, adjustable camera. He notes that this would be useful for mounting other things, too.

http://boingboing.net/2012/01/09/cheap-ikea-anglepoise-knock-of.html/feed13Gingerbread cuckoo clock with gingerbread gearshttp://boingboing.net/2012/01/06/gingerbread-cuckoo-clock-with.html
http://boingboing.net/2012/01/06/gingerbread-cuckoo-clock-with.html#commentsFri, 06 Jan 2012 21:00:59 +0000http://boingboing.net/?p=137643
Instructables virtuosa Mezcraft made a (sadly non-working) geared gingerbread cuckoo clock with internal gingerbread gearing. She kind of beats herself up for the mechanical unsoundness of gingerbread, but that's hardly her fault!]]>
Instructables virtuosa Mezcraft made a (sadly non-working) geared gingerbread cuckoo clock with internal gingerbread gearing. She kind of beats herself up for the mechanical unsoundness of gingerbread, but that's hardly her fault!

Well - this is a bit of a fail so this is where it gets sad. After all my research and all of my effort my gears have stuck to the axle and will not turn. Two of them have some movement but the other two are stuck. If anybody out there has tips on how to avoid getting icing down onto your axle I am all ears! I still haven't given up on this idea. I might try it again another time..I think also the weight of my top gear pieces limited the ability for the gear to turn. Ah well.. It was really fun to try and do. Plus my clock feels slightly more authentic, like it has a gingerbread gear heart on the inside. No Hollow Gingerbread house for me, that's right, I got a Gingerbread house with soul...

I spent a good deal of time "cleaning up" the edges of the gears with an exacto blade attempting to give them smooth surfaces in which to turn well. I then added wax paper "washers" as I was worried that icing might stick ( this was not an unfounded worry), and that the gingerbread might rub weirdly on all other gingerbread. My initial test before icing of the gears worked well. It turned and it had promise. I then assembled the whole gear section together with icing and crossed my fingers that it would not stick together...

So all that work on my gears that didn't work and got stuck AND you cannot even see them through my clock face! Not enough light I suppose...Pretty funny though. At least I know that they are there. I think next time I should set up some major lighting if I want to put something on the inside of a gingerbread house. LESSON LEARNED.

Karen sez, "Instructables user lvl_joe has built the ultimate Fire-Breathing Animatronic Pony from a FurReal Butterscotch play pony."

For Maker Faire Detroit 2011, I displayed a hack I made to a FurReal Friends Butterscotch Pony.

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Karen sez, "Instructables user lvl_joe has built the ultimate Fire-Breathing Animatronic Pony from a FurReal Butterscotch play pony."

For Maker Faire Detroit 2011, I displayed a hack I made to a FurReal Friends Butterscotch Pony. My fellow LVL1 Hackers and I had taken control of the motor control system of the toy and added a flame thrower to it. It seemed to go over really well with the crowd, so I am putting up the information for anyone to make there own. It was a blast to make and I hope everyone has as much fun remaking it. Just remember that this project uses Fire and should only be built and operated by no less then 2 adults with appropriate experience in fire safety and proper fire safety equipment on hand.

http://boingboing.net/2011/12/08/howto-make-a-fire-breathing-an.html/feed9HOWTO make a scratch-built carbon-fiber violinhttp://boingboing.net/2011/12/06/howto-make-a-scratch-built-car.html
http://boingboing.net/2011/12/06/howto-make-a-scratch-built-car.html#commentsWed, 07 Dec 2011 06:52:57 +0000http://boingboing.net/?p=133111
Karen sez, "Instructables user AussieCFViolin has rigged up a carbon fiber violin. This tutorial is an early entry in Instructables' ShopBot Challenge, which is accepting all sorts of creative projects for the chance to win an their own ShopBot.]]>
Karen sez, "Instructables user AussieCFViolin has rigged up a carbon fiber violin. This tutorial is an early entry in Instructables' ShopBot Challenge, which is accepting all sorts of creative projects for the chance to win an their own ShopBot. This contest has only been running for a week, and has already seen a lot of fantastic entries."

I used the infusion method of carbon fibre making , were you lay all your layers up dry and vacuum bag it , once the vacuum is over 25hg (-12psi) you open the tap to the resin , and the vacuum pulls the resin into the carbon fibre fabric , the laying up of the rib mould took me 5 hours each side to get the fabric to sit in the right position , very fiddly ( pardon the pun) .

The gluing jig was made from MDF with 10mm cup heads sticking through , designed to allow side ways positioning of the rib and neck parts , and the holding down clamps for the top and bottom , the centre part of the jig was removed to glue the top on, with the 4 hour set time of the resin ,its important to keep it all firmly heard in position.

The cutting and shaping of the f holes is another reason they call them fiddles , carbon fibre is a bugger to cut , found that if you submerge the carbon fibre in water and use a Flexi Drive bit holder on a Dremmel, it keeps every thing cold , and produces no dust , just ware a rain coat

http://boingboing.net/2011/12/06/howto-make-a-scratch-built-car.html/feed24HOWTO make a home-made pocket-sized espresso machine with tiny alcohol stovehttp://boingboing.net/2011/11/27/howto-make-a-home-made-pocket.html
http://boingboing.net/2011/11/27/howto-make-a-home-made-pocket.html#commentsSun, 27 Nov 2011 19:41:27 +0000http://boingboing.net/?p=131780
Instructables user Urant decided to create a pocket-sized espresso machine that could be built using simple tools and parts from a local home-improvement store.]]>
Instructables user Urant decided to create a pocket-sized espresso machine that could be built using simple tools and parts from a local home-improvement store. He came up with a tiny, soldered contraption with its own tinsy winsy alcohol stove that uses a filed-down syringe to deliver a very slow drip of fuel for a boil that goes long enough to extract a single shot. It's a great design.

Design constraints are some of the most important points of any product design; they tell us what the limits are. The tighter the constraints, the more limited the design, and we have to be more creative to be able to meet them.

On this project, I set the following ones.
1- The product had to fit in the pocket of my jeans.
2- The product had to be made out with common, cheap and easily obtainable materials from any home improvement store or corner hardware store.
3- The product had to be made using simple tools that most makers would probably already have, or could easily borrow or buy cheaply.
4- The product had to be self-contained.
5- The budget was maximum 30 dollars.

http://boingboing.net/2011/11/27/howto-make-a-home-made-pocket.html/feed27HOWTO make your own 3D printerhttp://boingboing.net/2011/11/15/howto-make-your-own-3d-printer.html
http://boingboing.net/2011/11/15/howto-make-your-own-3d-printer.html#commentsTue, 15 Nov 2011 23:57:02 +0000http://boingboing.net/?p=129273
Karen sez, "Instructables user RobHopeless has engineered a way to make your own 3D printer. This tutorial is an entry in Instructables' 4th Epilog Challenge, which is accepting all sorts of creative projects for the chance to win an Epilog Laser."

I have wanted a 3D Printer for a while now and there are some very reasonably priced kits available like the Makerbot, Ultimaker and the RepRap project.

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Karen sez, "Instructables user RobHopeless has engineered a way to make your own 3D printer. This tutorial is an entry in Instructables' 4th Epilog Challenge, which is accepting all sorts of creative projects for the chance to win an Epilog Laser."

I have wanted a 3D Printer for a while now and there are some very reasonably priced kits available like the Makerbot, Ultimaker and the RepRap project. I could have just bought a kit and started printing things but at the time I had not seen great resolution or print quality from those. I started looking around at the other 3D printing technologies and found SLA made some amazing quality prints, so I decided to try making my own. Since I started this a while back those projects have come a long way and they can make some beautiful prints now. There are also people working on a UV resin and DLP projector 3D printer which is showing promise.